Category: Blog
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MUSIC, WHAT’S IT MEME TO ME?
Enter the Vancouver Recital Society’s RU35 Collaborative Art Project and You Could Win! Looking for a way to experience heart-stopping classical music recitals without breaking the bank? RU35, or Recitals Under 35, is the Vancouver Recital Society’s new program for discerning young Vancouverites between the ages of 18 and 35. RU35 tickets for all recitals…
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AN INTERVIEW WITH FLORIAN BOESCH
Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule. How did the New Year start for you? The New Year started with a Messiah concert in Zurich and then 5 days skiing with the kids and friends in Vorarlberg. That‘s a very good start! Who are the great influences in your life and in…
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RU35: RECITALS UNDER 35
Looking for a way to experience heart-stopping classical music recitals without breaking the bank? RU35, or Recitals Under 35, is the Vancouver Recital Society’s new program for discerning young Vancouverites between the ages of 18 and 35. RU35 tickets for all recitals are only $18, a savings of up to 75%. As one of the…
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WHAT TO EXPECT: TINE THING HELSETH
We are looking forward to presenting Tine Thing Helseth in her Vancouver debut this coming Sunday. Tine (pronounced Tin-eh) will be accompanied by pianist Håvard Gimse, and together they will perform the Canadian premiere of a new work for solo trumpet by Norwegian composer Rolf Wallin. Also featured in the recital program: Bohuslav Martinů’s Sonatina for…
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THE ONE WHO GOT AWAY
For a good many years I have been an ardent fan of the wonderful German bass-baritone, Thomas Quasthoff. I had the good fortune to hear him in recital at the Wigmore Hall and remarkably, despite his 4ft height he was a towering presence on the stage. He was a “thalidomide baby” who soared above his…
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LISTENING ROOM REVEALED
Over the past few weeks we asked our readers for their favourite recordings, performers and repertoire. We received many responses. Perhaps it is not surprising that J. S. Bach ranks high with our listeners. One wrote, “I’m listening to Bach piano transcriptions performed by Dinu Lipatti, Yvonne Lefebure, Egon Petri, Solomon, Myra Hess, and Wilhelm…
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PARKING AT THE CHAN CENTRE
Many of our patrons have pointed out the increasing cost of using the Rose Garden Parkade adjacent to the Chan Centre. In the past, parking at UBC was underwritten by UBC Parking Services with a small charge ($1-$1.50) applied to organizations using the Chan Centre for each ticket that was sold. UBC Parking absorbing the…
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THE REMARKABLE CAREER OF GEORGE LI
And what a career it has been for this 15 year old pianist! George Li began winning competitions at age 6 and he made is first public performance at Boston Steinway Hall at the age of nine. One of his biggest achievements came in 2010 when he performed Chopin’s Piano Concerto no. 1 with the…
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LISTENING ROOM
One thing we all share in common is a passion for listening to music. Of course, we regularly come together to discover new talent and marvel at internationally-acclaimed artists on Vancouver’s stages. But our appetite for music does not end there. In a world where recordings have never been more readily available, we can now…
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A GROWING APPRECIATION: PRELUDES AND FUGUES BY SHOSTAKOVICH
Perhaps it has been a deficiency in my musical education, but I have found it hard to warm to Shostakovich’s Preludes and Fugues. Written in 1950-51 and influenced by Bach and in a lineage of prelude collections by Chopin, Scriabin, Busoni, Debussy, and Rachmaninoff, these works have generally remained on the outskirts of the repertoire.…
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GETTING TO KNOW: JUHO POHJONEN
“I receive something valuable through music – and I hope that each listener will feel that they have too.” On his music education: “I started to play violin in a children’s music school at the age of two-and-a-half. My brother – now also a professional pianist and a composer – was already studying piano at…
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GETTING TO KNOW: SIMON KEENLYSIDE
“I am a story teller, I am a narrator.” “I spend my entire working life dealing only with beauty; I rarely sing with a piece of music in front of me, so all of these beautiful songs are committed to memory.” Performing opera does not come without its risks: injuring his back in one…
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GETTING TO KNOW: MAXIM RYSANOV
“If they say the violin is a human voice, I would say the viola is the voice of the soul.” Discovery: “I studied at the boarding school, and there was a viola player in the next room. Its vibrations touched me deeply when I played it. That was how I realized that I can…
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A PASSING THOUGHT
Our 32nd season opened this past Sunday with the Russian-born, Israeli-based pianist Boris Giltburg. He may be young (27 years), and he may not be a household name, but he left no doubt he is an artist to watch. The buzz in the lobby at intermission was great: one woman described to me his ‘magic fingers’…
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RU35: RECITALS FOR YOUNG VANCOUVERITES
Ru35 is a new program for discerning young Vancouverites between 18 and 35 who want to broaden their cultural horizons, impress a date or influence their network in a new way. Young adults get the opportunity to experience live solo performances by world-class classical artists, meet new people, and never break the bank doing it.…
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GETTING TO KNOW: JSQ
In the beginning… first violinist and founding member Alexander Pavlovsky explains: “We have started to play together at 1994, and our average age then, was 16. That is a very unusual age to start playing in a string quartet. We grew up together, spending about six months together since the very beginning. I believe all…
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THE SEASON BEGINS
Once again we have a season of musical treasures that will be yours to discover over 21 performances, plus one very special presentation. To start this season we present the Vancouver debuts of two young musicians: pianist Boris Giltburg and violist Maxim Rysanov. Boris Giltburg first came to our attention through a long-time friend of…
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TROUSERS, DUCT TAPE AND THE JERUSALEM STRING QUARTET
Paul Gravett, hasn’t worked at the VRS long enough to know that to ask me “to write a few words about something” is like asking me to fly a jumbo jet! Here is the response to his most recent request… “Would you mind writing a few words about your first encounter with the Jerusalem String…
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LASTING IMPRESSIONS: JERUSALEM STRING QUARTET
Leila’s great story about the Jerusalem String Quartet’s first visit to Vancouver inspired to ask you for your stories. Since their memorable debut, they have returned to Vancouver several times, most notably for a week in 2006 when they performed the complete string quartets of Dmitri Shostakovich, and more recently with clarinetist Martin Fröst in…
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AUDRA MCDONALD WOWS AUDIENCES AND CRITICS
The long-awaited American Repertory Theater production of The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess has opened and the reviews are coming in. The critics are unanimous in their praise for Audra McDonald, who has set a new standard for this iconic leading lady of American opera. “Ms. McDonald is Bess (or to use the hyperbolic speech of…
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GETTING TO KNOW: BORIS GILTBURG
“The best about being the musician is that you get to experience that magical atmosphere…. created between the music, you and the audience…” Boris Giltburg Who: 26-year-old Russian residing in Israel First teacher: mother Debut: age seven Hobbies: languages and computer programming Biggest inspiration: “classical music in its entirety – I learn and experience a…